There is an increasing emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) by public elementary school teachers, yet little is known about how teachers and other education stakeholders (e.g., administrators, policymakers) can best support the successful implementation of such practices. The authors of this report sought to understand teachers' perspectives on their readiness to implement EBPs by surveying a nationally representative panel of 1,065 public elementary school teachers. The survey, fielded from January 20, 2020, to February 24, 2020, covered three domains related to EBP adoption and implementation: (1) innovation characteristics (EBP appropriateness), (2) characteristics of individuals (openness to EBPs, burnout), and (3) inner setting characteristics (EBP implementation climate, management support). Teachers' responses suggest that they view EBPs favorably, but they do not consistently see their workloads and school environments as conducive to using EBPs. Survey findings suggest that it is essential to understand teachers' perceptions of working conditions at their schools (e.g., inner setting characteristics, burnout), because those measures showed the most variability in survey response data. Indeed, a school's ability to assess readiness for EBPs is an important first step toward cultivating the conditions for successful EBP implementation, and too often teachers are not able to give input into assessing readiness. The authors discuss the implications of survey findings for EBP implementation in elementary school settings, with a focus on how school administrators, policymakers, teachers, and other stakeholders might best understand what is needed to successfully implement EBPs, both prior to and during the implementation process.

There is an increasing emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) by public elementary school teachers, yet little is known about how teachers and other education stakeholders (e.g., administrators, policymakers) can best support the successful implementation of such practices. The authors of this report sought to understand teachers' perspectives on their readiness to implement EBPs by surveying a nationally representative panel of 1,065 public elementary school teachers.,The survey, fielded from January 20, 2020, to February 24, 2020, covered three domains related to EBP adoption and implementation: (1) innovation characteristics (EBP appropriateness), (2) characteristics of individuals (openness to EBPs, burnout), and (3) inner setting characteristics (EBP implementation climate, management support).,Teachers' responses suggest that they view EBPs favorably, but they do not consistently see their workloads and school environments as conducive to using EBPs. Survey findings suggest that it is essential to understand teachers' perceptions of working conditions at their schools (e.g., inner setting characteristics, burnout), because those measures showed the most variability in survey response data. Indeed, a school's ability to assess readiness for EBPs is an important first step toward cultivating the conditions for successful EBP implementation, and too often teachers are not able to give input into assessing readiness.,The authors discuss the implications of survey findings for EBP implementation in elementary school settings, with a focus on how school administrators, policymakers, teachers, and other stakeholders might best understand what is needed to successfully implement EBPs, both prior to and during the implementation process.

Tools for Life®: Relationship-Building Solutions (TFL) is a program designed to improve school climate and safety through the proactive development of elementary and middle school students' interpersonal skills (relationship-building and communication) and intrapersonal skills (self-regulation and resiliency). In the 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 school years, the Jackson (Mississippi) Public School District (JPSD) implemented TFL in grades 1 through 8. RAND researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether TFL, integrated into existing school practices, positively affected school climate and safety in the district. In this report, they describe the implementation of TFL in JPSD, calculate its costs, and evaluate the program's effectiveness.,TFL is designed to improve whole-school change in relationships among staff and students, but the authors found that implementation of TFL in JPSD schools was generally shallow, and the program was rarely, if at all, implemented across a whole school as it was designed. TFL had little impact: After one year of implementation, there were no practically or statistically significant differences between schools that implemented TFL and those that did not in measures of students' social and emotional, school climate, behavioral, or achievement outcomes. In addition to the uneven implementation of the program, the authors discuss how methodological limitations of the study and contextual factors in JPSD may have contributed to these findings.